CHILI & LIME BEEF AND NOODLE WARM SALAD

I love the combination of chili and lime. Citrus is one of my favourite flavours and partnered with the punch of chili is just divine and perfect for the warmer nights. Seeing as winter is lifting and gloriously sunny days and warmer evenings are starting to happen this was the perfect dinner dish!

INGREDIENTS

500 grams rump steak
MARINADE
4 cloves garlic chopped
2 limes zested and juiced
1 long red chili
1 stalk of lemongrass chopped
2 cm piece of ginger roughly chopped
5 coriander roots well washed
60 grams coconut sugar
60 mls vegetable oil
WARM NOODLE SALAD
200 grams rice noodles
vegetable oil
1 red onion cut into thin wedges
4 cloves of garlic roughly chopped
2 cm ginger julienned
2 tbs oyster sauce
2 long red chillies deseeded and sliced
200 grams green beans trimmed and sliced into 2cm battens
handful of coriander, leaves picked
handful of mint, leaves picked

Place all the marinade ingredients into a blender and blitz until smooth. Pour over beef leaving 1 tbs behind and allow to marinate for 30 minutes.

Pour boiling water over noodles and allow to sit while preparing the rest of the salad. Fry beef in a little oil to just under desired finish. Eg cook to rare if you like you meat medium rare. Remove from pan and allow to rest. Clean out pan and add a little more oil and add onion, garlic and ginger and cook stirring for 5 minutes until softened and starting to get some colour. Add oyster sauce, reserved marinade and beans and cook for a further 5 minutes, meanwhile slice up steak. Once beans are tender add drained noodles, steak and half of the herb and toss. Serve up and scatter remaining herbs over the top. Serves 2.

ROASTED TOMATO SOUP

I have had great success in growing tomatoes this year. I still have many many more to pick. Yesterday I made two batches of stock (one chicken on beef) which I am very happy with as this morning I saw that they gelled which is a very good sign. So last night I decided that I would use some of that stock and make tomato soup.

One days harvest

INGREDIENTS
8 large beef steak tomatoes
2 tsp chopped fresh tarragon (1 tsp reserved)
1 tsp chopped fresh marjoram
1 head of garlic
olive oil
salt and pepper
2 cups chicken stock (or veggie if you prefer)
2 onions chopped\
2 tsp butter
sour cream to serve (optional)
crusty bread to serve (optional but highly recommended)

Cut tomatoes in half and sprinkle with olive oil, salt, pepper, tarragon and the cloves of garlic still in their paper skin. Roast in a moderate oven for 40 minutes to an hour. When the tomatoes are getting close slowly sweat off the onion in a little butter until soft add remaining tarragon and marjoram and stock and bring to boil. Remove tomatoes from oven and when cool enough to handle remove garlic from skin and add all ingredients to stock mixture. Blend with a stick mixer or blender and serve with a drizzle of olive oil a dollop of sour cream and some extra black pepper and some crusty bread.

MEATBALLS IN A TOMATO ESSENCE

This is one of my husbands favorite way to eat our home grown tomatoes. It is a very easy and simple dish to prepare but does involve some cooking time.

INGREDIENTS
1 Kg Tomatoes preferable home grown
500 g mince beef preferable grass fed and premium
optional extras:
Tagliatelle
Sharpe cheese shaved

Dice the tomatoes and cook them very slowly over a very low heat with a little olive oil until juices run and evaporate. Preferably for an hour to an hour and a half. Roll mince beef into balls and fry off until sealed and colored  add to reduced tomatoes. Either serve as is with a salad and crusty bread or over tagliatelle and shaved cheese. The flavor from the tomatoes is insane!

slow cooking the tomatoes

Cooking the meatballs

Cooking the meatballs in the tomato essence

Dinner anyone?

A ROAST CHOOK

We it's nearly holiday time YAYYYYYY!!!! looking forward to our longest holiday since our honeymoon travelling around Australia 5 years ago!!! So in the lead up I am trying to clear out our freezer. A whole chook took my attention today, so decided to make a roast chook! Pretty easy so I am not going to provide a recipe :D But I did roast in on some lemon slices and simply seasoned it with salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. I love lemon and love it with chicken!

As an accompaniment I roasted some potatoes. My secret to making them nice and crispy is to boil them first with their skin on until tender transfer them to a roasting dish and smash them up with a masher, drizzle with olive oil a couple of small knobs of butter and some salt and pepper and roast in a hot over at around 200 C until golden and crispy. This results in a soft fluffy potato with a crispy golden skin. 

I made some gravy with the pan juices. I poured them in a pot brought to boil mixed 1 tbs of flour with water and added it to pan stirring quickly until thick, season with salt and peppers. Yum. This gravy had a lemony hint from the lemons under the chook.

Add some more veggies and a lovely simple dish for a thundery Melbourne spring day!

SATAY CHICKEN WITH NOODLES

No recipe yesterday as we went to a friends house for dinner! This one is from Jamie Oliver's 30 minute meals. I made some changes to the original recipe :D I had some help from hubby as I sprained and bruised my thumb in an intense game of twister...had fun explaining that one to the doctors! This was an easy dinner to make injured and all! Even for a hubby that never....ever cooks (sorry babe :p)

INGREDIENTS

2 chicken breasts

Satay Sauce:
Hand full fresh coriander
1 dried red chili
1 clove garlic peeled
3 heaped tbs crunchy peanut butter
2 tbs soy sauce
2 cm piece ginger grated
juice 1 lemon
150 ml coconut milk

Noodles:
1 packet egg noodles
100 g peanuts crushed
1 onion diced
1 dried red chili
1-2 tbs soy sauce
1 lemon
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp fish sauce
1 tbs honey

Add chicken to a pan with a little oil and fry over medium heat until cooked. In the mean put kettle onto boil. Put all satay sauce ingredients in jug and with a bar mix puree all ingredients. Add to a sauce pan and cook over low heat. Pour boiling water over noodles in a large bowl. Fry onion in small pan until tender. add rest of the ingredients for the noodles except noodles. and cook for a few minutes. Pour over drained noodles and toss. Chicken should be cooked by now, when it is serve on top of noodles with some satay sauce.

A BEEF PIE THAT ENDED IN A BEEF STEW

I intended to make a pie, but as life got in the way, we came home late and just wanted to eat so no pie crust :( Oh well it was still tasty :D I think I was inspired by a recipe somewhere somehow but cannot for the life of me remember where or what!

INGREDIENTS

750 g stewing beef cubed
1/4 C flour
1 onion diced
1 C red wine
2 C beef stock
1 tbs green pepper corns
1-2 C peas

Seal beef in pan with salt and green pepper corns. Remove from pan when done. Add onion and saute in some oil until soft and golden add flour and stir and cook for a minute, add red wine and beef. When simmering and reduced by half add stock and simmer for a couple of hours until cooked adding more liquid if need be. When done add peas and cook for 5 minutes. Use in a pie or as a stew.

A FEW TO FEED SO SPAGHETTI ALLA PUTTANESCA IT IS

I thought I would start this post by telling you how much I HATE HATE HATE furry disgusting salty dried fish things that people call anchovies. But I bought a jar of them a few weeks back to make this dish. Everyone else who came to dinner that night also weren't anchovy fans, some of them hated them as much as I do! But in this......mmmmmmmmmmm....you can;t taste then or feel there texture. This is a delicious dish which is easy to make, great on the wallet and very tasty! This is from Jamie Oliver's 30 minute meals. I have re-written the recipe because he does a few things at once and I'm only giving you the recipe for Spaghetti Alla Puttanesca. I served this with garlic bread and a green salad.

INGREDIENTS

500 g spaghetti
200 g tuna in oil
30 g anchovies in oil
2 clove garlic diced
1 tbs capers
1-2 fresh red chilies diced
hand full pitted black olives
pinch of cinnamon
salt and pepper
2 tins of diced tomatoes
Handful of fresh parsley
1 lemon

Put water onto boil for pasta. Pour some of the oil from the tuna into a hot pan add garlic, anchovies and capers and fry for a few minutes breaking up the anchovies so there are no lumps left (very important to do this especially if you don't like them). Add chilies and chopped parsley stalks. Chops the parsley leaves and put to one side. When garlic mix is starting to get some color add the tuna and break it up. Then add the olives, cinnamon, pepper and tomatoes. Simmer and taste for seasoning and adjust. Add the juice of one lemon and the parsley leaves and then add the drained pasta and toss. Serve.

ROASTED PUMPKIN RISOTTO

No recipe yesterday as we had freshly caught snapper at a friends house! I haven't made this in years. Recently I bought 5 kg of arborio rice and need to use it up, so I thought I would revisit this recipe. it's so so easy to make and is budget friendly!

INGREDIENTS

2 C risotto rice like arborio
1 tbs butter
1 tbs olive oil + 2 tbs olive oil
500 g pumpkin chopped
4 onions slices
1 bulb garlic skin removed
1 C white wine
600 ml chicken stock
1/4 C sour cream and extra to serve
1/4 C Parmesan grated
1/4 C tasty cheese grated
seasoning to taste

Put pumpkin, onion and garlic on roasting tray and season with salt and pepper, drizzle 2 tbs olive oil over and place in preheated oven at 180 C for 30 minutes until tender and slightly colored. When cooked place in large jug with stock and puree with stick mixer. Place butter and oil in large saucepan when hot add rice and toss to coat until it turns translucent. Add wine and stir until all absorbed. Add pumpkin puree and stir continuously  when it started to really bubble and spit put the lid on and turn to low and cook for 10 minutes stirring occasionally. If too thick add some hot water and stir until ready. Risotto should run  on the place and not be gluggy. Check to see if rice is cooked. It should have some bite to it and not be mushy. When cooked add cheeses and Parmesan and sour cream, check seasoning and season to taste. Serve with a dollop of sour cream and cracked pepper.

CHORIZO AND ROASTED CAPSICUM PASTA SAUCE

Wow what a busy week is has been! not much action in the kitchen! After the pizza post, my husband worked a double shift so left overs it was for me. The next day was my birthday.; We usually go out to a nice restaurant but I was feeling very run down and exhausted. I just felt like deep friend prawns, tom yum soup, a boost juice smoothie and a cheesecake so my lovely husband ran around for over an hour to pick up all my goodies! Hopefully we get to go out to that nice restaurant sometime this week. On Saturday we went camping and on Sunday we had dinner with some friends. On tonight's menu is an easy pasta dish with chorizo and roasted capsicum in the sauce. Chorizo is a Spanish sausage and is one of my favorites. This is easy and budget friendly!

INGREDIENTS

1 packet pasta of choice I like to use penne
2 chorizos sliced
3 capsicums roasted on the stove, skin removed and slices
2 cans crushed tomatoes
salt and pepper

Put a large pan of water on to heat. Place capsicums on gas stove or under griller to blacken skins.

While the capsicums are roasting Start to fry the chorizo until oil starts to run. Drain. Remove skin from capsicums de-seed and slice. Add chorizo and capsicum, tomatoes and seasoning to pan bring to boil and simmer until pasta is cooked. when pasta water comes to the boil add pasta and cook until al dente. Serve

PIZZA NIGHT

Tonight I'm making pizza! Pretty simple but it's what I felt like eating.

Dough

1 kg plain flour
1 tbs sugar
1 tbs salt
1 tbs yeast
1 cup warm water and more if needed.

mix all ingredients until a dough is formed. Leave in a warm place to rest for a couple of hours until it is well risen.

Sauce

2 cans tomatoes
2 onions roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves

Saute onion and garlic until soft add tomatoes and reduce for 30 minutes until a nice thick sauce forms. Puree until smooth, season.

Toppings

Completely up to you. Today i felt like ham and pineapple and cheese.



I also felt like Ham, Salami, capsicum, pineapple mushrooms and capsicum cheese.



Other options are a bolognaise sauce base with roasted zucchini, pumpkin and capsicum topped with cheese

Roasted mediterranean vegetables with feta cheese.

Seafood like prawns, scallops with a white sauce.

chicken with homemade barbecue sauce, ham and pineapple and cheese

tandoori chicken with a tandoori sauce base, capsicum, onion mushrooms and cheese

potato and herbs

garlic butter

the possibilities are endless...whats your favorite topping?

CONFESSIONS AND A CHICKEN AND LEEK PIE

Okay so the juicy confessions bit first! I. DON'T. MAKE. MY. OWN. PUFF. PASTRY. Well who could be bothered anyway, so many stages, and folding and rolling and flour and butter, and the convenience of having the stuff pre rolled right there in my freezer. I use it for easy desserts like tart tartin or a quick sausage roll for lunch etc etc. So the last time I went to the supermarket I bought some puff pastry. When I came to use it....It wasn't puff at all but short crust! bugger I picked up the wrong package! I like making my own short crust. It's easy and I can control how much butter I use and substitute an egg in it's place which also makes it quite crisp and easy to handle. So My pie today will be using store bough short crust pastry. But If you would like to make your own use the recipe used here in my leek tart.

INGREDIENTS

Filling:

2 chicken breasts in cubes
2 tbs butter
1 tbs olive oil
4 leeks sliced and washed
2 tbs flour
330 ml dry hard apple cider
1/2 C sour cream
1/2 C chicken stock
salt and pepper
3 sheets ready to use short crust pastry

Sweat leeks off for 10 minutes in the butter until lovely and soft in large pan. Remove from pan and add olive oil and brown chicken and season with salt and pepper. Add leeks back to pan and stir in flour and cook for a minute. Add cider and stir in well, add chicken stock and cook for 10 minutes until reduced and thick and then stir in sour cream. Turn oven to 160 C and grease a pie dish and line with pastry. Pour filling and and put lid of pie on and seal well poking a couple of holes in the lid to allow steam to escape. Put in oven and cook for 40 minutes until golden all over and pastry in cooked.



This was really delicious and the pictures do not do it justice!

LEFT OVER NIGHT

Ah the effects of a big weekend has caught up with me! I have a huge mess to clean up, every time after a weekend there is a huge mess, even though we weren't here for a large part of it! Add to that a clingy toddler wanting lots and lots of mummy cuddles after being shipped off the the grandparents while we celebrated our friends wedding, I just didn't feel like cooking tonight. So left overs it was! Hopefully something more interesting tomorrow night for dinner :D Lets just say thank goodness for leftovers!!!!

MOROCCAN BEEF TAGINE

O love tagines soft meat, a lovely spicy gravy, chickpeas, a sweetness derived from fruit, and fluffy couscous to soak it all up. This one is one of Jamie Oliver's from his book Jamie Does. I used a different cut of meat to his which I think gives it more richness as the bone is still in. I also used chicken stock instead of vegetable stock, purely because I didn't have any vegetable stock. I also used sweet potato instead of pumpkin, which held it's shape even after 3 hours of cooking time. In the original recipe, you add the pumpkin after 1.5 hrs of cooking time. when I slow cook I like to forget about it after it's all in the pot so this suited me well.

INGREDIENTS

1 kg osso bucco beef shin
olive oil
1 onion diced
small bunch of coriander
1 tin chickpeas drained and rinsed
1 tin tomatoes
800 mls chicken stock
800 g diced sweet potato chunks
100 g prunes pipped

Spice Rub:
1 level tbs ras el hanout
salt and pepper
1 level tbs ground cumin
1 level tbs ground cinnamon
1 level tbs ground ginger
1 level tbs sweet paprika

Mix all the spice rub ingredients together and massage into the meat. Cover and refrigerate over night or a couple of hours minimum, this allows all the flavors to penetrate the meat.

The next day, pour some olive oil into heavy bottom frying pan, and fry meat with spice, until golden. remove from pan and add onion and chopped coriander stalks (reserving the leaves until after the tagine is cooked). When softened, add tomatoes, chickpeas, sweet potato, prunes and stock, bring to boil and add meat, reduce to simmer cook covered for 3 hours on a very low heat or until meat falls apart. When meat is cooked and the sauce looks too runny remove lid and increase heat so sauce thickens. Serve on top of couscous and sprinkle with coriander leaves.

NIGHT OFF

Spring carnival is a great time in Melbourne! I was lucky enough to be given free tickets to the Yarra Valley Harness Racing on Ladies Day. 

GO horsey GO!!!!

Beautiful view from the stands

So i had a night off from cooking once again this week! Hubby made me bacon and eggs when I got home and then I indulged in a mango! Loving Mango's st the moment, they would have to be one of my favorite fruits, alongside raspberries, a really really really sweet pineapple and mangosteens which are completely different to mango's!

Today I bought a box of 14 big mango's for $15 what a deal considering the large supermarkets are selling smaller ones for $2 each!

JERK CHICKEN

Its been a few days, and they have been cooking free. Monday night my husband celebrated a mates birthday and i stayed home with an unwell little man, so i just ate leftovers. Yesterday Melbourne's annual event Melbourne Cup meant that I spend the day celebrating (sitting outside with the spit going and enjoying great company and food) to later watch 'the race that stops the nation' or at least Melbourne at 3pm. We stayed on and stuffed ourselves some more with leftovers, so that meant another kitchen free day. Today has been pretty busy, and i didn't really feel like cooking. So i opened up Jamie Oliver's 30 minute meals and found a quick and easy recipe, that I whipped up quite quickly! Of course I changed the recipe around a little to suit our tastes and what we had in the pantry.

INGREDIENTS

2 chicken breasts
1 tbs honey
a few sprigs fresh rosemary
olive oil
salt and pepper
2 corn cobs
1 cinnamon stick
250g rice (I used red rice)
600ml chicken stock
1 tin red kidney beans
Marinade:
1 small onion
small bunch fresh thyme
2 fresh bay leaves
big pinch ground cloves
big pinch ground nutmeg
big pinch allspice
6 tbs brandy
6 tbs white balsamic vinegar
1 tbs honey
1/2 dried chili
4 cloves garlic

Boil the kettle, set oven to 200 C put a large frying pan on high, put a large saucepan on high.

Cut chicken through the middle but leave it attached at the top. drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper on both side. Place in hot pan.

Put corn in saucepan with 1 tsp salt and cover with boiling water.

Put all marinades ingredients in food processor and whizz up. Pour in bottom of small baking dish and place chicken on top, skin side up. Drizzle honey on top and place fresh rosemary on top put in oven.

Drain corn and put in the frying pan used for chicken and blister all over until slightly charred. Remove when ready.

Put cinnamon, rice, stock and beans in pan used for corn and bring to boil, cover and simmer for 12 minutes turn off and allow to sit for 10 minutes.

Serve

If I had more time I would have made more veggies, but I wasn't in the mood for thinking too hard so just followed the recipe, minus the original salad that i couldn't be bothered making. The flavours in the chicken were sensational! The rice was ok but suited the chicken dish well. Plain rice would be just as great.

CRUMBED CHICKEN

These are so easy and yummy to make with a slight asian flavour!

INGREDIENTS

2 chicken breasts
2 cups bread crumbs
2 heaped tsp chinese five spice
2 heaped tsp ground coriander
1 tsp salt
pepper
2 tbs sesame seeds
plain flour to coat
4 eggs beaten
oil to shallow fry

Slice the chicken thinly  put flour in a bowl, beaten eggs in another with spices, sesame seeds, salt and pepper. Coat each piece in flour then egg then crumbs in egg and the crumbs again. Shallow fry on medium to high heat for a couple of minutes on each side or until golden brown. Serve with salad or steamed vegetables.

the broccolini and baby potatoes are from my garden (unfortunately the peas are just flowering and not podding at the moment)

ENCHILADAS

These are so easy to make, so very tasty and easy on the hip pocket!

INGREDIENTS
1 portion homemade taco seasoning
2 chicken breasts in strips
500ml chicken stock
2 cans crushed tomatoes
tortillas (this makes around 6)
grated cheese around 150 g

Fry chicken until golden in a little olive oil, add seasoning and toast for a couple of minutes, add stock and one can of tomatoes, simmer for 30 minutes or until sauce is reduced and thick. Spoon 1/2 cup of mixture onto each tortilla shell and roll up and place on baking sheet. top with the other can of crushed tomatoes and grated cheese and bake at 160C for 20 minutes.

OVEN BAKED MEATBALLS

These are very easy to make and are also budget friendly. and sorry in advance about the photos - it was quite dark when I took them.

INGREDIENTS:
Sauce:
2 medium onions chopped
3 garlic cloves crushed
1 tbs brown sugar
1 tsp salt
3 tins 400g tomatoes
1 L chicken stock
1 L water
Balls:
500g premium mince beef
1 1/2 C rice
salt and pepper

Sweat onion and garlic and brown sugar off in a little olive oil, until caramelized  this should take 5-10 minutes on low heat. Add tomatoes, stock and water. Simmer for 30 minutes.

In the meantime preheat oven to 150C. Combine meatball ingredients and roll into small golf balls. Puree sauce and pour over meatballs and bake for 1 hour.

SHEPHERD'S PIE

I'm trying to forever change my menu and try and endeavour to NEVER cook the same thing twice! Yep thats right! No wonder I'm often baffled as to what to cook for dinner! So I was thinking for the next month (and maybe more) I will post the recipe of what I am cooking for dinner!

So tonight it is shepherd's pie (or is it cottage pie I never know the difference?) with homegrown carrots!



INGREDIENTS

500g premium mince beef
4 medium carrots diced or grated
1 onion diced
4 cloves of garlic crushed
750ml homemade stock I used a dark chicken because that's what i had just made but you can definitely used beef! (if you can't make your own buy the liquid stuff *please please read the ingredient list* and please please not the *insert rude word here* cubes/powder with all the artificial flavours colours preservatives and God only knows what else!!!!)
pepper to taste
mash potato (or a combination of potato and sweet potato or any other veggie you like)
grated cheese to top around 50-100g



Sweat off the onion and garlic and carrot until soft and try not to colour too much.



Remove from pan. Fry mince meat breaking it up as much as you can. Season with pepper only (as the stock will reduce and can be quite salty. Taste at the end to see if you need more salt.)



Add the stock and reduce down until you have a nice gravy (should take 30 - 45 mins)





While stock is reducing start boiling the potatoes  to make the mash.

I left the skin on the baby potatoes that I mashed.

 I needed to add a couple of pinches of salt to the reduced stock and mince mix. Place in the bottom of a baking dish.

Top with the mash and grated cheese.

Place under the broiler until golden brown. It should take 5-10 minutes.

LEEK TART

I have so many eggs at the moment! I wanted to make something simple with them.



I also had another leek from the garden that needed to be used so I created this recipe.



INGREDIENTS

Pastry:

1 1/2 C plain flour
1/4 shortening or butter (I used shortening as I had some leftover that I needed to use)
pinch of salt
1 egg
1 tbs cream
2 tbs milk (or add as required)

Filling:
1 leek diced
2 tbs butter
3 eggs
200 ml cream
50 g coppa, parma ham. prosciutto, bacon or ham diced (i used coppa as that's what I had on hand)
50 g tasty cheese grated with a little extra for the top
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 180C For the pastry rub the fat into the flour once this resembles breadcrumbs add the salt, egg and cream, if needed as milk as required until you have a smooth dough.



Be careful not to overwork the dough otherwise you will have a tough party case.



Today I was lazy and didn't let my pastry rest, but I'll share a trick with you so that your pastry won't shrink in the oven.



Roll out your pastry and fill your tart tin and tuck it into the corners, but don't cut off the overhang instead tuck it around the outside of the case.



Don't forget to prick holes is the base with a fork like I did!



Blind bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly and with your rolling pin roll over the top to break off excess pastry! SIMPLE!
 

To make filling fry the leeks in the butter over low heat until lovely and soft. 

If you like also fry you chosen meat (or leave out for a vegetarian option). Combine eggs, cream seasoning and some of the cheese and give it a whisk. 

Once leeks are cooked place over tart case and then layer over diced meat pour over egg and cream mix and top with remaining cheese. 

Place in oven for 15-20 minutes until eggs are just set and cheese is nice and golden. 

This is a great light lunch and would be lovely with a simple green salad.